Keegan MacVoy felt like a superstar as he hoisted a provincial hockey championship trophy in the air during a celebratory parade Sunday through Amherstburg.

“It kind of feels like I won the Stanley Cup or something,” said the 14-year-old MacVoy, who was one of about 45 players from three Amherstburg hockey teams that were honoured with the parade for winning Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships last month. “I still can’t believe we won. And it’s great for just one team to make it, so for all three to win, it’s just crazy.”

The Amherstburg midget major, bantam major and novice hockey teams won the OMHA championship titles within hours of each other March 23. This is the first time all three divisions have won the top provincial title in the same year, said Amherstburg Minor Hockey Association president Marc Renaud.

Sunday’s celebration became known as the “trifecta championship parade,” and was an opportunity for the community to celebrate the victories, Renaud said.

“This is just a great way to congratulate the teams and show them our support,” said Renaud before the parade began. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment for the players and for the community, especially such a small town. Today we’re celebrating hockey – Canada’s game.”

Players wore their jerseys proudly as they piled into the back of pickup trucks and crammed into fire engines, waving to residents who lined the street to watch the parade. Police and fire escorts led the several-kilometre-long parade through town as pedestrians and motorists stopped to show their support to the young players by waving, cheering and beeping their horns.

Donna Lopez said she got a bit emotional as she watched traffic come to a halt and complete strangers cheer on her eight-year-old son, John, who plays on the novice team.

“It just brought a tear to my eye because it’s so great for them to see how proud everyone is of them,” Lopez said. “They’re never going to forget this experience.”

Jenna Cole, whose son Jackson, 8, also plays on the novice team, said she, too, felt overwhelmed by her son and his teammates parading through town.

“This is Amherstburg history because this novice team is the youngest hockey team in Amherstburg to ever win an OMHA championship, so it’s so exciting that he’s able to be a part of this,” Cole said.

“Like people coming out and cheering and wanting my autograph is an unreal feeling. I can’t even explain how this feels,” Parlette said.

Parlette said he’s been playing hockey for 15 years and played for both the novice and bantam major hockey teams in the past, but has never won the provincial championship. He said winning the top honour in the province was like a dream come true and something he and his fellow teammates had hoped to achieve for years.

“We’ve finally made it. We finally did it,” said Parlette, with a wide smile.

Parlette said he’s proud he and his teammates and the other two teams were able to make the community proud with their wins, and was happy to see their efforts appreciated Sunday.

“It’s great to see everyone so ecstatic and smiling and all pumped up,” Parlette said. “As a town, we stick together, so everyone’s a part of this. If someone wins, we all win.”

Young hockey players wave from a fire truck as three Amherstburg hockey teams from bantam, major, and novice parade through town celebrating Ontario championships, Sunday, April 6, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)

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